These types of filling methods are generally used in the case of carbonated beverages, for example for bottling beer or in general in the beverage industry. Within the framework of beer bottling, so-called keg barrels are used as large-volume containers. These are returnable barrels, the volume content of which, as a rule, is 30 l or 50 l, for example.
Such keg barrels are provided at their top side with a valve, the so-called keg head, onto which a suitable tap head can be fitted. By means of the tap head, carbon dioxide is regularly supplied from an external vessel so that the contents of the keg barrel can be discharged to the dispensing head. By means of the propelling gas, an over pressure is generated in the keg, which, when the tap is opened, presses the contents out through a pipe in the interior of the keg. When the tap head is removed, the valve closes the keg in an air-tight manner, thereby making further storage of the contents possible. The overpressure in the barrel interior remains constant and reduces any foaming of the beverage.
These types of bottling methods are used in many cases in practice and, for example, are the object of DE 30 08 213 A1.
Over and above this, it is generally known and from another context through DE 196 48 493 A1 that in the case of a method for the repeatable metering of liquid in a selectable, reproducible amount, a metering operation that has been accomplished once manually can be learnt and stored so as to be called up. These types of methods of operation, however, are not known in the filling of beverages because, in this case, it is a question of filling the respective keg barrel or generally the large-volume container as rapidly as possible.
In this case, it has emerged in practice that the rate of flow through a filling section and, as a consequence, the rate of filling for the container, in particular when filling the container with gaseous beverages and in this case preferably carbonated products, is restricted. Said limitation is produced on account of the fact that when a maximum value for the outlined rates is exceeded, the carbon situated in the liquid tends to outgas and consequently starts to form foam. This foam formation makes the filling of the container considerably more difficult.
For this reason, varying rates of flow, which are geared to the filling level or fill level inside the container, are already used in practice and there is still a demand for considerable improvement here. For in practice, the fill section is usually of a considerable length and this results in a more or less large liquid volume being situated inside the fill section, which periodically delays a change in the rate of flow. This often brings about incompatibilities in practice in such a manner that a rate of flow is observed at a discharge opening of the fill section other than the one that has been predetermined along the fill section, for example, by means of a controllable valve. This is where the invention fits in.